The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1887-05-25
A MOUNTAIN OF MARBLE.
THE FAMOUS QUARRIES OF CAR
RARA IN THE ALPS.
Getting Out Immense Masses OF
Beautiful White Marblc-Men
Who Work i'm the Quarrics.

Beautiful White Marble-Men /
who Work i'm the Quarrics.
The city Of Carrara nestles under the |
protection of its mountains the Apuan !
Alps, a corner of the Apennines. Some ]
of these, rising to the height of 1000 feet, /
oSershadow the north of the town, while |
| to the right and left they are softened .
down to hills, richly clothed with fir |
chestnut, olive trees and vines in de
scending scale; to the south is a gap of |
about furlong, through which winds |
the River Avenza, and beyond the six
miles of intervening country the blue |
Mediterranean can be seen.
| The quarries are one of the sights of the
world, occupying three or four descend !
| ing ridges, which unite in the lofty Monte |
Sagro. They have been worked at
| latest from the time of the Emperor
| Augustus From then until now all the
| best marble has been obtained from
them.
The mountains of marble in some places
seem to rise almost perpendiCularly high
up their sides are the quarries or 'caves,"
as they are locally called, presenting from
! the town the appearance of patches of
snow which refuses to be melted by the
sun, while sometimes it seems as though
partially dissolved snow had begun to
slide down the mountain side.
To see the quarries, and the mode in
which the 'cave man" works, says a
writer in the London Graphic, one must
be up with him in the morning, and fol-
low him to his toll as did.
We were just in time to see huge cor
ner of marble, weighing about hundred
tons, forced from the mountain. Round
| it men have driven a chain of holes with
! crowbars, shaped at the point like a
| chisel. BY striking the surface and deX-
/ tdTously turning the bar at each stroke a
! hole is soon formed about three feet into
solid rock, thus isolating the desired mass
as much as possible. Into these holes
gunpowder is placed by boy, who in
variably performs his task with lighted
cigar in his mouth! Clay is then rammed
in, train laid and warning shout
raised. We betake ourselves to some
such shelter rs an overhanging rock or
small cave; the foreman gives another
shout, applies the match to the train and
runs for his life. A few moments of anx-
ious waiting-the whole mountain seems
to shake, thunder and groan in agony at
having to give up its treasures-a cloud
of dust-a rumble of falling pieces-we
creep out in time to see two masses of
marble tumbling over the last ridge on
their way to the valley.
The explosive power in this instance
had been nicely calculated-the huge
mass had been Just loosened. Sometimes
the moving force of the charge is under
estimated, then the whole block topples
over, often to pound itself into hundreds
of pieces in its headlong course down the
ravinc.
Being too heavy and large TO be moved
entire, it is divided in the simplest way
a row of holes bored across it "a line
chiseled between them), plugs of dry wood
driven into the holes, water poured upon
thenhnd in time, the wood having swollen,
the block cracks across and through. Men
then 90 to work upon each half with
hammer and chisel until they are made
tolerably square, huge cables or chains
are fastened around them, and they are
lowered by short stages from ledge to
ledge to the wagons waiting below
The 'cave" men are Surely almost as
primitive and hardy in their habits as
their historic namesakes; many of them
live in the hamlets among the hills, six
|
leave their homes at daybreak, each
equipped with pair of thick boots
| which are never worn at home, gourd
slung by his side, to be filled at the
mountain istream he passes, hunk of
coarse bread under his arm, possibly an
apple in his pocket On this food he eX-
lists during the day. earning about two
shiilings and working much harder than
! etn L fa1 Enpr1icb I'm fha
! ing at home he sups on mash Of meal,
mingled with oil and favored with the
never-failing garlic; meat he seldom if
ever tastes. On Festa days only does he
! drink ANYTHING stronger than water; then
he will spend as much and even more
than he can afford upon cheap wine
/ Almost every Festa brings with it a quar-
rel, and the evening its inevitable result
ia stabbing aifray.
OF the 10000 inhabitants living in
| Carrara and its immediate neighborhood,
about 6, 900 are "cave" mem the town is
entirely devoted to the marble commerce,
marble stares YOU in the face everywhere,
| the walls, roads and paths are made of
! it, the floors Of the house are paved with
/ it, everything that can be is hewn out of
marble, from perfect copy of the Venus
J to the common 'bathing tub, ~ as a local
advertisement has it. Countless copies
of the antique are sent out from the 400
studios and find their way to the various
art markets of Europe and America. Oc-
casionally good original statue or bust
is executed, but the greater number of
| sculptors devote themselves TO repro
ducing copies either of the old masters,
/ popular modern examples or chiseling
| sepulchral monuments.
A N EVo "a nueinoec